Shipwrecked!

There is the faint memory of dining with the others aboard the Jenivere but little else after a rude awakening by the sharp prodding of an Ochre Eurypterid (Sea Scorpion) and finding oneself on the beach of an unknown island, surrounded by poisonous sea scorpions and other slowly waking passengers of the now lost Jenivere . Next to your row of bodies was a pile of gear, and in it, some of it your own. Eoru was the first to get up, awoken by the sharp prodding of a sea scorpion, and immediately ran to the pile to dig out her staff with the sea scorpion nipping at her heels. Ho-Oh awoke next, and immediately pecked Greg awake in a firm but harmless way. The were soon followed by AJ and [[:unnamed-whipmaster | [unnamed] Whipmaster]]. Everyone scrambled to the pile and around the sea scorpions who were constantly clawing and stinging at your heels. The sea scorpions’ poison and the sickness everyone was affected by seemed worrying but in sort order AJ had sliced one of them in half; Ho-Oh brutally ate another, and the final one was swept up by the rest of the party in short order.

Once the combat is over, the party is able to look around and take stock of their situation. They find themselves on the beach of an indented coastline. Human footprints lead to and from the water several times, with long furrows in the sand where each person was dragged ashore. Several of the other passengers of the Jenivere are awaking on the beach as well. Aerys Mavato, Gelik Aberwhinge, Ishirou, Jask Derindi, and Sasha Nevah have also all found themselves saved from the ocean to awake on this beach. The ship’s crew, Captain, First-mate, and cook are all missing; as are several other passengers including Ieana (missing). While everyone wakes up ill, the sickness fades after several minutes. Talking amongst themselves, the PC’s come to the conclusion that they must have wrecked upon Smuggler’s Shiv, an island north of Eleder (the destination port) in Desperation Bay, which although not shown on most maps is rightly feared as it’s knife-like coast has a habit of wrecking ships that come to near, often smuggler’s trying to avoid Sargava’s navy (hence the name). It is commonly believed that the shores of Smuggler’s Shiv are haunted by the ghost and ghouls of sailors who have died on the jagged rocks and reefs surrounding the island. These rumors are supported by reports of several failed attempts to establish long-lasting colonies on the remote island.

Not ones to dilly-dally, the PC’s decide to immediately set out and explore the new island. With simple druidic magic Greg determined the direction of North (turns out to be the way the beach was facing) and with a sharp eye, Eoru noticed what looked like the ship’s wreckage on an outcropping bank to the north. Greg wasted no time in declaring that he was setting out to the south, up the rocky ridge and into the island’s interior jungle, and [[:unnamed-whipmaster | [unnamed] Whipmaster]] decided to follow suite; meanwhile, Eoru and AJ headed north to explore the ship’s wreckage. Leaving everyone else with the task of setting up the basics of a camp on the beach, the two two-member groups took off.

The first group of Greg, Ho-Oh, and [[:unnamed-whipmaster | [unnamed] Whipmaster]] climbed up the rocky cliff and entered into the shadowy canopy of the forest; realizing that his bird and him would not be able to see eachother if it flew above the trees, Greg kept his companion close at hand. It is extremely hot on the island, over 90 degrees at least, and horribly humid. The trek through thick vegetation, and having to hack through vines makes travel through the jungle slow-going. In about 2 hours, they reach the other side of the island, or so they thought, until they saw the silhouette of the coast out beyond the water, and realized it connected to their current location in a crescent shape (as if they were near the top of a backwards “C”). They also found a Dimorphodon nest with 3 occupants, but decided to avoid any confrontation and headed back to the beach they’d arrived on to meet up with the other group and passengers before nightfall.

Bonus Xp
Island Exploration 40xp
Wildlife Observation 25xp

AJ and Eoru have little trouble in their trip along the coastline to the north, and in just under an hour they make it to what remains of the Jenivere, and it wasn’t much; just the stern of the ship, caught in-between some rocks on the ridge. The rest of the ship was nowhere to be found, and even on this back-end, the lower deck was missing; any of the crew who were in the lower decks (which were their quarters) are unlikely to have survived. Tied up nearby is small rowboat, one of Jenivere’s escape boats. Nearing mid-day and high tide, water was rising up over a trail of rocks along the coast and through the raging waters which lead in the direction of the ship. Atempting to cross the slick rocks proved difficult though, and both AJ and Eoru found themselves slipping to the surf below, where the churning waters along the rocks made for some rough and tough swimming, and some bruises to boot. Upon reaching the shore again, AJ successfully scaled the rocks and boarded what was left of the ship, only to find another sea scorpion on board the deck too! Combat with this vermin was made more difficult by the rocking of the ruined boat, making AJ’s attacks less accurate. Eoru had a much more difficult time and after a couple more tries to cross the rocks, only to be cast into the raging surf below, changed her mind and she aided AJ in his combat from the shore w/her sling, well except for the one close call where she nearly hit AJ instead! After defeating the sea scorpion, AJ kicked down the door to the supply room that the scorpion had been trying to get into. There he found the corpse of Alton Devers (deceased) with slash wounds and sting marks, and a store of supplies around the room. Noticing the masterwork quality of Alton’s armor, AJ took the time to remove his own armor and equip Alton’s in its place. This gave Eoru time to work out a clever way down to the ship (by climbing to the ledge above and jumping while casting feather fall and landing on the ship), and begin exploring the rest of the wreckage, after observing Alton’s corpse to find out that it was the sea scorpions poison which had done him in. Eoru worked her way down to the larder where she found stocks of food, and the ship’s’ cook Rambar Terillo (deceased)‘s corpse was stashed in a corner, which upon examination had bite marks around the neck and shoulders that Eoru’s knowledge of wounds told her probably came from some sort of snake, and a large one at that.

Eoru scoured the ship for bags and containers, and packed-up all of the supplies found in the supply and larder rooms, while AJ continued exploring the ship. AJ found the Captain’s quarters, but only partially in tact, with one wall completely bust open, tossing most of the rooms contents into the sea. His desk had not fit out the hole though, and was lodged against the hole. Searching the drawers of the desk there were some keys, maps, and the captains log, and the bottom drawer was locked. After some time fumbling with the lock, AJ eventually picked it and with Eoru joining him, took a look at the spoils, which included several hundred gold pieces, and a bag filled with potions. Unable to identify the potions on sight or through a spell, AJ and Eoru took turns sipping the various colored liquids to try and figure out what they were. Before leaving the ship, they found another locker in the captain’s room which contained some armor, a holy symbol, and a couple potions, all possessions taken from the prisoner on shore (Jask Derindi). Having gathered up everything they could find of use on the ship, they made use of one of their newly found potions (one of water-walking) to get all of the supplies easily back to the shore, before the ship gave way to the waves completely. On their way back to the camp the pair noticed a ledge that they’d missed on the way to the ship which seemed to have some sort of large nest on it about 40’ up the ridge; they did nothing with it yet, but informed the others of its existence upon reaching camp.

After arriving back at the camp and unloading some of their supplies, AJ and Eoru found that Greg & [[:unnamed-whipmaster | [unnamed] Whipmaster]] had returned to the camp as well. The groups swapped tales of the days ventures and then had a debate which ended with one of the keys found on the ship being used to free Jask from his manacles. Jask insists that he was wrongfully incriminated, and that in fact he had uncovered evidence of dirty deals between his superiors in the Sargavan government and the regional pirate lords, and upon reporting such, was framed with the very crime by his superiors. Although at first distressed that the PC’s didn’t trust him, he seems delighted to be free and has offered his services as a spellcaster, priest of Nethys. He also tells the party of the Brine Demon, a ship captained by Avret Kinkarian, which supposedly crashed on this island, and may hold evidence of Jask’s innocence, as Avret was one of Jask’s superior’s contacts to the pirate lords. To aid in such an exploration, Jask offers up his 2 potions of Cure light wounds as a token of gratitude.

With little light in the day left, the party decided to pay a visit to the nest that AJ and Eoru passed on the way back to the camp. After a short walk, and a small climb, the group manages to find the nest again and investigate. The nest was home to 2 human-sized Dimorphodons, and their distress at finding people near their nest had AJ and the Whipmaster climbing into the nest to battle the beasts while Eoru slung rocks from the back. Although it was a dangerous fight out on the narrow ledge, and the Dimorphodon poison was no joke, they managed to slay both of the winged creatures, and dropped their corpses to the shore below to be carried back to camp for dinner. Searching the nest the group found a dimorphodon egg, and another egg, only this one was broken open with a slimy dimorphodon hatchling head pointing out and squawking. Eoru took the hatchling into her cloak and carried it with her. The group headed back to camp, dragging two dimorphodon corpses behind them and holding the new-born dimorphodon in their arms.

On Jenivere, a large merchant ship (a Wyvern class vessel common to Inner Sea travel), traveling from Magnimar in the North to Eleder in the Southern nation of Sargava. Carrying goods and supplies is the primary function of the Jenivere but it also saves a portion of its space to carry passengers on its travels. You board the ship at one of these ports the Jenivere stops at on its way southward toward Sargava. This can be your home city, city you’ve trained or been at recently, or just a city you were traveling through.

Magnimar, Varisia (Port of Origin)
Kintargo, Cheliax (2 days in port)
Pezzack, Cheliax (3 days in port)
Corentyn, Cheliax (7 days in port)
Illizmagorti, Mediogalti Island (2 days in port)
Ollo, Shackles (7 days in port)
Quent, Shackles (2 days in port)
Port Peril, Shackles (3 days in port)
Bloodcove, Mwangi Expanse (4 days in port)
Senghor, Mwangi Expanse (3 days in port)

Days at sea: 71; Total journey (so far): 104 days

Currently heading towards the final destination of Eleder. There are six other travelers (beyond the PC’s), and the ships crew. During the weeks of the trip, you have learned a little about each of these passengers and some key members of the crew (on the Character page as NPC’s). You may also have noticed, met, or known some of your fellow PC’s as well.